A Jeanne in the Kitchen

There is absolutely NO doubt about it. Popcorn is my favorite snack. I eat large bowls full of it all the time.

I bring all this up because yesterday, January 19, was National Popcorn Day. I apologize for being a day late on this national day of celebrations. Corn that has been popped has been around for at least about 5600 years. Popped corn has been a favorite of the Native Americans, both in South and North America for thousands of years . It was of course popular for eating, but was also used for decorations, jewelry and ceremonies as well.

I know there are plenty of people who like other kinds of flavors mixed in with their popcorn, and that’s OK … for them. Some people like it with chocolate or caramel or sugar. Others like it with cheese or garlic or even BBQ flavorings. The possibilities are endless, and that’s OK for some, but not for me. Some people like it fancy or gourmet style while others like it colored.

I am a popcorn purist though. For me, I stick to the basics. Nothing but oil, butter and salt for me. To me, this is the best way to enjoy my popcorn, eating it one popped kernel at a time.

Popcorn became a popular snack to the American population as a whole around the mid 1800’s. It really became popular at theatres during the Great Depression of the 1920’s and 30’s when the theatres started selling it to help make money to help them stay open.

It is estimated that today, Americans consume about 15 billion quarts of popcorn annually, which breaks down to an average of about 45 quarts per person. I know I certainly eat my share, and then some on a regular basis. 🙂 Some of the reasons for its popularity are because it’s one of the most wholesome and economical foods available to Americans and considered a healthy snack to indulge in. Compared to most snack foods, popcorn is extremely low in calories. Air-popped popcorn only has 31 calories per cup, while oil-popped popcorn has only 55 calories per cup, not counting the butter of course. Popcorn is the perfect go to snack for trying to meet those weight loss (or gain) goals healthily while keeping your body nourished and your tummy happy! It is also good comfort food that is easy to eat and easy to enjoy, whether at home or away.

So pop away and celebrate national popcorn day, even if a day or two late. It’s always time for popcorn.

It was my friend Elizabeth’s birthday yesterday, and she wanted me to cook her dinner. She had asked for shrimp curry. Easy-peasy. A curry is just something cooked in a spicy sauce. I did make her a “shrimp curry”, in the form of Shrimp Vindaloo, but I also made a whole feast to accompany the Shrimp Vindaloo too. The cookbook I used had a list of menu suggestions to go with the Shrimp Vindaloo, so I made them all. We had Shrimp Vindaloo, tomato and onion salad, green beans Thoren, potatoes and bell peppers, rice and banana, coconut and cardamom samosas over ice cream for dessert.

Let’s start with the Shrimp Vindaloo, since that was the requested menu item for this special occasion. Elizabeth had no idea I was preparing the rest of the suggested menu items to turn the meal into a feast.

Vindaloo is a traditional recipe of the Catholic community of Goa, an Indian state on the country’s southwestern coast. However, its origins lie 5,500 miles (8,850km) to the west, in Portugal, from where an earlier variant of the dish made its way to Goa with Portuguese explorers in the early 15th century. Vindaloo, like curry, is a way of cooking foods in a spicy, often fiery sauce. Vindaloo is one of endless possibilities of delicious curry dishes. It can be vegetarian or made with chicken, pork, lamb, beef or seafood. The word vindaloo is a garbled pronunciation of the popular Portuguese dish carne de vinha d’alhos (meat marinated in wine-vinegar and garlic), which made its way to India in the 15th century along with Portuguese explorers. Vindaloo foods are a combination of Portuguese, Goan and Southern Indian influences. Vindaloo is a blend of chilis, tamarind, ginger, cumin, and mustard seeds, and spices originally from Goa. As with anything, there is NEVER just one version. There are endless possibilities everywhere you can find Indian foods.

Shrimp Vindaloo

The Spice Mixture

6 tsp coriander

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp turmeric

1 tsp cinnamon nibs or 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp ground mustard or mustard seeds

1 1/2 tsp salt

Mix all the spices together and set aside.

The Vindaloo

2 lbs large shrimp, peeled and deveined

2 cups onion, sliced very thin

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tsp ginger

2 tsp garlic

1/4 cup white vinegar

1 cup chopped tomatoes

1/2 cup coconut milk

2-3 chilis, either Serrano, jalapeno or Thai chilies are fine. it just depends on the level of heat you are looking for.

1/4 cup water, or more as needed

chopped cilantro for topping

In a very hot skillet, add the oil, the onions and the peppers and cook for about 5-7 minutes or until the onions are translucent.

Add the shrimp and cook until the shrimp are completely pink and are thoroughly cooked.

Add the spice mixture, vinegar, tomatoes, garlic, ginger and coconut milk and combine thoroughly. Cook for about 3-5 minutes. Add the water, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and continue to cook for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

Once the Vindaloo was ready to serve, we topped it with chopped cilantro and served it over the rice, with everything else on the side.

I encouraged Elizabeth to taste her dish to make sure all the spices were just right. I do this for everyone. Because after all, you have to like what you are cooking if you are going to eat it.

Elizabeth was very pleased with her birthday Indian feast.

Happy Birthday my friend, with many more to come.

Stay happy, healthy, safe and well. ‘Til next time.

Today was a rare day of photo opportunities. I got ALL 4 of the kids.

The happy wolf.

There’s a panther in my crate.

I’ll have to check this out.

Maybe if I sit on her she’ll leave.

The wolf and the puma.

And the Saint, in his favorite spot, oblivious to the rest of the gang and all their shenanigans.

Can you tell I am a proud mom? I love all my fur babies. 🙂

We are so blessed to have such a wide variety of birds literally right in our backyard. As I am currently sitting in my office, I am looking out my office window watching the birds flit all around. Though it is about to snow, so as the skies begin to darken and the clouds roll in, I am seeing fewer and fewer birds fly by my window. Luckily when I was out walking the other day, the weather was a bit more friendly and more birds were out and about. One of those birds was a beautiful Cassin’s Finch. I was lucky enough to have him pose for a few good pictures before he got bored and flew away.

There is always something beautiful to see. Just open your eyes and open your mind to all the beautiful opportunities. They are all around you. You just need to look for them.

Monkey bread, pull apart bread, plucking cake or bubble bread. What does all this mean? They are just some of the more common names for a type of bread that is pulled apart and eaten as finger food. The term “monkey bread” sprang about because the bread is pulled and picked apart as if it were being eaten by a monkey. I know, it’s a stretch, but that’s what Wikipedia says, so it’s gotta be true, right?!

Usually “monkey bread” is a sweet bread or dessert, with Hungarian Jewish origins, dating back to the 1880’s. But now it is also being made as a savory type of bread too. It is dough balls that have been rolled in butter and seasonings that are grouped together in a round or bundt baking pan.

I had made some earlier with just the cheese, Cheesey-Garlicky Pull-Apart Bread then I found a recipe that included mushrooms as well, and I LOVE mushrooms, so I just had to make it. I found this recipe from one of the many wonderful blog sites I follow, but I confess, I forget which one. I am very sorry about this. I love to give credit where credit is due, and I usually do, but alas, I forgot to track it this time. Hopefully you will remember and send me a gentle reminder so I can credit you later.

Cheesy Mushroom Pull Apart Monkey Bread

2 cups mushrooms, sliced

4-6 TBSP butter

1 TBSP garlic

1 tsp dried oregano

2 tins of frozen prepared pizza dough

1/2 cup Parmigiano cheese

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

olive oil

salt & pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350* F or 180* C.

Spray a bundt pan with cooking spray.

Saute the mushrooms in olive oil with the salt & pepper until they are cooked. Drain off the excess liquid and set aside.

Melt the butter and add the garlic and oregano and combine well.

Cut the dough into equal sized portions and roll into balls. Dip the dough balls into the butter mixture and roll to completely cover. Roll the buttery dough balls into the Parmigiano cheese and completely cover. Place them on a piece of parchment paper and let rest for about 15-20 minutes.

When the dough balls are ready, place half of them around the bottom of the bundt pan. Add a layer of mushrooms, a layer of the shredded cheddar cheese and a layer of the parsley. Repeat the process until you are done.

Bake for about 40-45 minutes or until the the bread is golden brown and cooked completely. Allow to cool slightly, then start pulling it apart and enjoying it bit by bit. It is so ooey and gooey and oh so good. I have already eaten it with some beef stew that Larry made the other day and then again with spaghetti that we had last night. It was just good on day two as it was on day one.

Stay safe, stay warm and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.

Right now our lakes are pretty quiet these days and that’s OK too. This has made me train myself to look in all directions, as well as up high and down below. Often times those are the places where I see so many great things. They are there, just waiting to be seen. This time it was another one of our Red-Tailed Hawks. When I first saw him, he was sitting atop the light light post. I got a couple of good shots of him there, until Vinnie walked up and sacred him into flight. Of course I did not get him in flight, but I did catch up with him again when he landed in one of the big pine trees.

I just love the hawks and all the birds of prey in general. They are just so beautiful and majestic.

Never forget to look in all places. Look up, look down and look all around. The beauty is there just waiting to be discovered.

As beautiful as a big slice of a decadently rich chocolate cake looks, it is really not my thing. It’s far to sweet and far to rich for my tastes. I am not a big fan of super sweet desserts. I much prefer them to be be slightly sweet, more rustic and less “pretty”. That being said, here is a perfect example of a rustic, mildly sweet dessert that can be enjoyed as an after dinner treat or as a midday snack or something in the morning with a good strong cup of coffee. It is an Italian apple cake known in Italian as the Torta de Mele. I made it as part of my latest display of goodies for our church coffee cart. I paired it with some Mandarin oranges and mini poppy seed muffins to complete my tray.

Apples are very popular all throughout Europe, as well as the rest of the world. When it is apple season, fresh apples are always such a delight. They are begging to be used in as many fresh and delicious ways as possible. Almost every country has their own version of a traditional apple cake, and every region has personalized it as well. The French have their gateau aux pommes moelleux, Germans have Apfelkuchen, and the Danish call it aeblekage, and on it goes. Apples have been a part of European baking throughout the ages. For instance, the Apfelkuchen or a German apple cake is very popular all over Germany, but it tends to be a bit drier than its Italian cousin, the Torta de Mele. Another difference between the German Apfelkuchen, and most other apple cakes, and the Italian Torta de Mele is cinnamon. The Germans use cinnamon, whereas the Italians typically do not. They use a bit of lemon to enhance the flavors of the apples.

When making a Torta de Mele it is also recommended to make sure all the ingredients are at room temperature, rather than having some cold and and some warm. This helps the flavors of the cake blend together better. This is supposed to be a thick cake, so use a deep pan that is at least 2″ thick. Traditionally this cake is made in a bundt pan, but I found a recipe that made it as a sheet cake instead, so I decided to make it this way for a change of pace. I have made it both ways, and no matter how I bake it, it always comes out great.

Italian Apple Cake

You can use whatever type of apples you like as long as they are firm, crisp apples. My favorites are Galas, but Granny Smiths work just fine too. This cake uses a little cinnamon, but not much, and surprisingly, no lemon in this recipe. It is an adaptation of a traditional Italian cake that has hints of the German apple cake as well. I guess it would be considered a Northern Italian recipe, since Northern Italy is closer to Germany, and thus the German influences.

For the Apples

6 apples, peeled and sliced thin

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Mix the apples, cinnamon and sugar together and set aside until ready to use.

The Cake

Preheat the oven to 350* F or 175* C.

Spray a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray and line it with parchment paper. I have 2 9×13 baking pans and I use them all the time. Usually that is more than enough. Oddly enough though, this time, they were both in use at the same time, which rarely happens. So I did what comes naturally to me, and I improvised. I lined a deep cookie sheet with parchment paper and used that instead. It worked just fine. My cake still came out nice and fluffy and it was very moist indeed.

1 1/2 sticks softened butter

1 cup sugar

4 eggs

2 cups flour

1 cup almond flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1` tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups Greek yogurt

powdered sugar for dusting

Combine the butter and sugar and mix until creamy, then add eggs and vanilla, adding the eggs one at a time, and mix in between each addition.

Combine all the dry ingredients and mix together.

Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the yogurt to the butter and sugar mixture, mixing in between each addition.

Add half the apples to the bottom of the pan and spread out evenly in a single layer across the bottom of the pan.

Add the batter on top of the apple slices and completely cover them. Then arrange the remaining apple slices on top of the batter.

Bake uncovered for about one hour or until the cake is done and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle.

Allow the cake to cool completely before cutting into squares and dusting with powdered sugar. There are apples all throughout the cake. Every bite will have apple in it.

Grab yourself a big strong cuppa and enjoy the simple, rustic flavors of this delicious apple cake. !Buon Appetito!

Stay safe and stay well Everyone! ‘Til next time.

It was a tater tots and salad kind of day for all three of “my boys” though they made different recipes of each. Micah and Asher made loaded tater tots and an avocado, black bean and corn salad, Avocado, Black Bean and Corn Salad while big brother Noah used tater tots in a different recipe and made yet another salad.

We started off by making a cowboy casserole with tater tots, since that had to cook for about 30 minutes. Noah LOVED this recipe. It was a HUGE hit with him. I think he is proud of the end results. 🙂

Cowboy Casserole

1-1 /2 lbs lean ground beef

1/2 onion, diced fine

1 TBSP garlic

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp cumin

2 cups frozen corn, thawed

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

1/2 green bell pepper, diced

4-5 tomatoes, diced or 1 15-oz can of diced tomatoes

1/3 cup sour cream

1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar chesse, divided

salt & pepper to taste

2 cups tater tots

olive oil for cooking

Preheat oven to to 375* F or 190* C

Spray a 9×13 baking pan with cooking spray.

Combine all the ingredients together, with the exceptions of the tater tots, cheese and sour cream. Cook until the meat is completely cooked and the onions are translucent and tender.

Mix in the sour cream and half the cheese and combine well. Continue to cook until the cheese is melted. Once everything is cooked and the cheese is melted, spread the mixture evenly in the prepared baking pan.

Layer the top with the tater tots, covering the whole pan. Add another layer of cheese on top of the tater tots if you like it nice and cheesy. Noah is not a big cheese fan, just like I am not, so he did not add another layer of cheese on top.

Bake uncovered for about 30-35 minutes, or until the tater tots are golden brown.

While the cowboy casserole was baking, Noah and I made a salad to go with it. I like to help him with simple and complete meals. Our salad du jour was a simple green and orange salad.

Green & Orange Salad

3-4 Mandarin oranges or 2 large oranges, cut into sections – save the juice for the dressing

2/3 cup olive oil

3 TBSP white balsamic vinegar

1 tsp dry mustard

salt to taste

4 tsp sugar

dash white pepper

1 head butter lettuce, rough chop

1 small head Romaine lettuce, rough chop

1/4 red onion, sliced very thin

1 avocado, chopped

1 cucumber, sliced thin

green onions, chopped fine

Whisk the oil, vinegar, orange juice and seasonings together and set aside.

Combine all the remaining ingredients and carefully toss together. Add as much dressing as needed without drowning the salad and toss again. Chill in the refrigerator until ready to eat. I used Mandarin oranges for this salad as they are sweeter than navel oranges, and the sections are smaller, which I prefer for salads. But this is just a personal preference. You can use whatever type of oranges you like. Cara-Cara or blood oranges would be very good too.

You can see Noah is having a good time tossing his salad.

Another fun and successful day of cooking, with more delicious recipes. Smiles were abundant. As the teacher, this is always the most rewarding part of the day. 🙂

Stay safe and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.

Fridays are my days to work with the boys, Asher, Micah, and Noah. It was a tater tot and salad day for all three boys. , though they did different things. Micah and Asher ‘s lesson was first. They made their loaded tater tots first, Loaded Tater Tots and while the tater tots were in the oven, we made an avocado, black bean and corn salad to go with the tater tots. I usually have the boys make a couple of things each time so while one thing is cooking we are in the process of making something else to go with it.

The boys are proudly displaying their latest culinary achievements. I think their expressions speak for themselves. The boys were very happy with the end results.

Avocado, Black Bean and Corn Salad

This recipe is a cool, simple salad that is very much like a loaded guacamole except the avocados are not mashed, and are cubed and left in chunks instead. It can be eaten with all the same things you would eat with guacamole. It’s just something slightly different.

2 avocados, diced

1 TBSP lime juice

1 15-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed

2 cups frozen corn, thawed

1 tomato, diced, though I made it even more fun and we used the small, teeny tiny tomatoes, both yellow and red

1/2 green bell pepper and 1/2 red bell pepper diced

1 TBSP garlic

2 TBSP fresh cilantro, chopped

1 tsp cumin

salt & pepper to taste

jalapeno, diced optional

Once everything is prepared, carefully mix it all together, making sure NOT to mash the avocados. This is supposed to be a chunky salad, and NOT guacamole. Chill in the refrigerator until ready to eat.

The boys are both busy doing their parts. Micah is busy cutting the peppers while Asher is measuring out the corn and the spices.

Asher is taking his tossing seriously to make sure everything turns out just right.

Micah is just adding the finishing touches.

Asher and Micha showing off their Loaded Tater Tots.

I love working with these two. Cooking is supposed to be fun, and Micha and Asher definitely have fun in the kitchen. They both get so excited abut everything they cook and they are leaning so much each time. I make them read out the recipes for us, and then they have to “do the math” and figure out what measurements we need of each ingredient. Who knows what we will make next, although I heard some ideas about making some kebabs. I guess we all just have to wait and see what’s in store. 🙂